Perry wants good shot at success before adding to special session

Gov. Rick Perry said Friday it’s “certainly possible” that he’ll add legislation to fix the troubled Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to the special-session agenda. But on that and other potential additions, said he first would like to see lawmakers approaching agreement on a bill.

“We’re not going to be adding things to the call just for the sake of adding things to the call,” Perry said. “We want to be relatively assured that we’re going to be successful — that’s not to guarantee success, but again, there are a host of issues and, I would suggest to you, a long list of wants.”

Perry said he wants to drill down to the needs and “TWIA is one of those needs, frankly, that we have in this state.”

He added that “we’re not going to bring it forward until we get a little closer to what I would consider to be an agreement between the disparate groups that are out there.”

Perry responded to reporters’ questions at a news conference after a state emergency readiness activation exercise at Austin Bergstrom International Airport as part of National Hurricane Preparedness Week.

Regarding TWIA, the insurer of last resort for windstorms, Perry said that “it’s one that we have spent a lot of time working on and trying to find a solution to. It’s a complex issue, as diverse as this state is, with the huge exposure that we have along the Gulf Coast.

“Let me just leave it — it is a possibility as a special session item, but still a little premature in the session to be naming any additional issues that we have,” he said.

Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, said previously that Perry had told him TWIA would be part of a special-session agenda if one were called. Only Perry has the authority to call lawmakers into special session, as he did on redistricting, and to set the agenda, which he hasn’t yet expanded.

Perry also was asked about discussion among lawmakers that while he could call a special session on a particular subject such as redistricting, that he couldn’t restrict its scope to only ratifying the interim court-drawn maps.

His call for the session specified ratification of those maps, a move advised by GOP Attorney General Greg Abbott. Democrats and minority interests have protested the idea.

“The intent of the call was very clear,” said Perry, who has the power to veto legislation that doesn’t suit him.

Perry also said one reason he is hesitant to talk about adding issues to the agenda is that he still is working his way through legislation and he may veto bills, or veto specific items in the budget. He said an option is to put such an item on the special-session agenda to “see if we can find a way to fix it.”

Perry also was asked about his political future, which is uncertain since he hasn’t said whether he’ll run for re-election or make another race for the White House.

Asked about a possible presidential run, he said. “I’m not thinking about anything past the next 30 days. We’ve got this legislative session in front of us, and some very important issues that are out there. “